"The continued prohibition of Cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians MUCH MORE than does the substance itself."
- Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs , 2002 (emphasis added)

Get acquainted with the politicians who are spreading misinformation about cannabis in order to justify the continuation of cannabis prohibition. You'd think one failed experiment with prohibition would have been enough.

Some quotes made by politicians about cannabis...

Monte Kwinter - Community Safety Minister

Quote:"We have as many grow-ops in metro Toronto as the United States," he argued
yesterday, as he also called for harsher sentences for grow-op owners.
Neither Mr. Kwinter nor Chief Fantino provided any statistics to back up
their claim. [source]

John Walters - U.S. "Drug Czar" - ONDCP(Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Quotes: "Exporting marijuana into the United States is a form of chemical warfare."

How much of the cannabis available in the U.S. is imported from Canada?

"Marijuana transported from Canada clearly amounts to only a small percentage [2%] of all marijuana smuggled into the United States."From a 2003 U.S. Justice Department report: [view chart]

"Most of the marihuana available on the American illicit market still originates primarily in the U.S. and in Mexico. Canada ranks far below Mexico as a source for the U.S."From a recent RCMP report "The Drug Situation In Canada, 2003": [source]

Martin Cauchon - former Justice Minister of Canada

Quotes: "We want to send the message that using marijuana is wrong and it is harmful to society"

 "Cannabis consumption is first and foremost a health matter"

Paddy Torsney - member of the House of Commons Special Committee on the Non-medical use of Drugs

Quotes:
 "A ticket would be more immediate and a police officer would be MORE LIKELY TO WRITE A TICKET. Right now the laws are not evenly enforced, often police will turn a blind eye, which teaches disrespect for the law. WE WANT FINES TO BE RENDERED."

 "There is an uneven application of the law. In many places the police warn an individual and don't charge. We think, actually, with what we're proposing A PERSON WITH A SMALL AMOUNT WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER A CONSEQUENCE for breaking the law. So we actually think WE'RE BEING A LITTLE TOUGHER ON PEOPLE by suggesting that there would be a fine for that breaking of the law and police officers would be more likely to write that ticket rather than it walk away."

Kevin Sorenson

Quote: "30 grams is too much. Any amount of marijuana is too much. We need to send a clear message to young people that marijuana is dangerous."

 "We believe that what we are recommending could have more of a deterrence than the present situation in as much as the police may be MORE LIKELY to fine an individual than charge them with a criminal offense. Writing out a fine is much less onerous (burdensome) than laying a criminal charge."

Walter Lastewka - Liberal MP

Quote:"I come from the school where if you open it an inch, people will want a mile," Lastewka said. "I am so against drugs. I have seen the damage drugs do to individuals and families and businesses."
Instead of decriminalizing, Lastewka said TOUGHER penalties should be enacted, especially for production and trafficking.
"We should be penalizing more," he said. "They're breaking the law and they're hurting our kids with the stuff they're growing."

Dan McTeague- Liberal MP

Quote:"Marijuana today, with the high levels of THC, is no longer a 'soft drug'."

Brenda Chamberlain - Liberal MP, Guelph-Wellington

Brenda seems to have only a superficial understanding of the cannabis and uses personally held beliefs in place of facts.

To see Mrs. Chamberlain in a discussion about cannabis policy view this RealPlayer video clip (advance to time code > 25:50)

Some quotes made by police union reps about cannabis...

David Griffin (Canadian Police Assoc., spokesman)

Quotes: "Drugs are not dangerous because they are illegal; drugs are illegal because drugs are dangerous."

 "There is no such thing as 'soft drugs' and 'hard drugs', nor bona fide criteria to differentiate between these terms. People who refer to hard or soft drugs generally do not understand the truth about drugs, or are seeking to soften attitudes towards the use of certain illicit drugs."
(from Canadian Police Association submissions to the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs May 2001)

Hours after the Special Senate Committee held their press conference to announce the release of their final report, the CPA held a press conference to denounce the Committee's report. David Griffin, the spokesman for the CPA, minimized the landmark contribution of the Committee report by calling it "nothing more than a back to school gift for drug pushers."

Help add content to this page. Know of a good cannabis or cannabis law related quote made by a politician? Send your quote (along with the source URL) using the form on the feedback page. The MAPinc.org search form below is a great resource for searching past news articles.

"There has never, in history, been a good reason presented for marijuana being illegal," said Senator Banks. "It's fundamentally important for people to understand that it's never been based on the facts. It's non-toxic, it's not addictive and has no provable, long-term irreversible effects."

Derek LeeLiberal MP

"Unfortunately we all seem to have a penchant for referring to this proposed package [Cannabis Reform Bill] as the "decriminalization of marijuana". That's a very small piece of this particular package. It's such a small piece we could probably do without it."